Corbett Barr

There’s Nothing More Powerful than a Deadline
Action is what matters, and deadlines are how action gets done.

Entrepreneurship as an Essential Life Skill
This isn’t about building the next billion-dollar company. It’s about the deep sense of fulfillment you feel from achieving self-reliance through earning a living independently. We believe every person should be able to build a business they believe in.

Burning Bridges
Burning bridges won’t get you what you want. It only limits your options. Make sure you really don’t want that option anymore before you pour the gasoline.

These 20 Minutes Matter Most
The 20 minutes before a meeting, or the hour before lunch, or the 45 minutes before your dinner appointment.
The real productive powerhouses among us don’t waste those times with email or checking the news. They get something meaningful done by time-boxing and cutting out all the friction.

Death by Friction
If you really care about making a new habit, you have to be vigilant about the friction. Observe every little step that gets in the way of your ultimate goal.
What friction could you cut?
Run without socks. Searching for socks is friction.
Publish blog posts without editing. Editing is friction.
Order a weekly box of produce. Pre-planning and shopping is friction.

Great Advice, Wrong Situation
There are major differences between ideas and strategies that can lead to billion-dollar startups, and the ideas and strategies you or I might use to to build a useful, fulfilling, and manageable business that can support us and the lifestyles we want to live.
Building a business isn’t complicated. Make something people want. Charge a fair price for it. Competition is rarely something you can avoid, but at least it proves your idea can work. It hedges your bet

How Can I Get More Done in a Day? (Introducing The Complete Calendar)
Instead of trying to find the motivation to get things done, I decided to specify where and when I would get important things done.
First, start by identifying the most important things you need to get done every week. Only focus on recurring tasks, not on one-time tasks.
My list of important recurring tasks came down to this: writing, email, lunch, workout, team meetings, free time, weekly errands,

What if something doesn’t get done during the allotted time? Take the next slot to finish it.
Why writing so much? Writing is an incredibly powerful tool, for personal transformation and for creating opportunities. Plus, I really enjoy writing and see myself doing it for the rest of my life. I want it to become a steady habit again.

Top 10 Mistakes in Starting an Online Business
1. Waiting too long to launch a product/service
2. Solving an unimportant problem
3. Not really listening to customers
4. Not being different
5. Choosing a topic you don’t care about
6. Starting with vastly wrong expectations
7. Spending too much time thinking and not enough doing
8. Going it alone
9. Confusing “ideas” with “business”
10. This is my list but What would you add to this list?
Is your list different?
What things do you wish you had done differently?
What mistakes do you see new entrepreneurs making?

10 Thoughts on Focus
Focus is “this, not that.”
Focus is like grit. Maybe grit is the momentum of focus.
Clarity comes before focus… Clarity makes the blueprint. Focus orders the parts, manages the labor, builds the house.
Focus is a battery… it’s an energy source, it powers you up. F
Focus comes from earnest digging… self awareness, a real desire to find something, the guts to move on when you know this thing is not what you’re looking for.
Earnest digging doesn’t have a deadline… you commit to the work, the digging, the search, and to yourself as the digger. You can’t commit to finding focus.
There’s a deep connection between focus and faith…
Feedback leads to focus
The best feedback comes from real work… make things, then connect with people about those things.
Focus takes forever

21 Quick Actions You Can Do Today to Set Your Blog Up for Massive Success
Action #1: Start Building an Email List (20-30 minutes)
Action #2: Start a Post Ideas Journal (10 Minutes)
Action #3: Add Facebook “Like” Buttons (15 to 20 minutes)
Action #4: Add Twitter Retweet Buttons (15 to 20 minutes)
Action #5: Make a List of Every Blogger in Your Niche (30 minutes)
Action #6: Add Social Proof to Your Blog (15 minutes)
Action #7: Refine and Explain Your Blog’s Unique Selling Proposition (30 minutes)
Action #8: Learn SEO Basics (60 minutes)
Action #9: Implement a Call to Action (5 minutes)
Action #10: Show People Your Best Stuff (15 minutes)
Action #11: Take Down the Ads (5 minutes)
Action #12: Develop a Facebook Fan Page (60 minutes)
Action #13: Commit to Updating Your Outposts Regularly (10 minutes daily minimum)
Action #14: Try a New Content Format (90 minutes)
Action #15: Check Your Mindset
Action #16: Write a Rant
Action #17: Interview Someone Influential (90 minutes, including prep)
Action #18: Set Aside Weekly Content Planning Time (30 minutes weekly)
Action #19: Ask for an Outside Point of View (60 minutes)
Action #20: Ask Your Readers
Action #21: Get Some Accountability (60 minutes)